He experienced one of those "perfect moments in time" when 2 unemotional acts that happen all the time crossed paths and created something. Yes, I can see it.

When you mentioned the Pledge of Allegiance(I thought it was outlawed), I immediately heard the clatter and smelled the stale lunch boxes. Wow - a sensory memory.

Guess I was focused on lunch in grade school.

Had to vote after work, at the city annex (euphimism for yet another city hall building), and waited in line for an hour and 45 mins., getting away from the polling booth about 7:45.
(sigh)

Used the elctronic voting machine. Nothing exciting, or faster, but I guess it makes the younger generation, who haven't learned to read or write, feel more comfortable. (smile)

We still fill in an oval with a Sharpie style black ink pen, then feed it into a ballot box that displays how many ballots it's eaten. I was number 419, which is quite a lot for my precinct.

I would think voting would be difficult for someone that can't read, whether they use the electronic or not. I've never seen one of the electronic machines...do they have pictures of the candidates instead of or in addition to their names written out? There was a couple of ladies in front of me, one of which I think might have been blind or disabled in some way that caused the other lady to have to help her to vote. (I tried to eve's drop to hear the reason - just being nosey, but I couldn't hear...oh well. I think she was probably blind, but it was hard to tell) They had to swear her in as an assistant, or whatever they're called. It was pretty interesting to see the process they used if someone can't vote by themselves.

Sally

Electronic is just selecting the candidate by highlighting the right candidate, and then hitting "enter". pretty basic, not that sophisticated, stuff, really.

Then after you hit enter, it automatically takes you to the next "office" to vote for.

At the end, it displays all your selections, in case you need to edit and make changes. Once you are satisfied that all is correct, you hit "enter vote" (a nice big red button), and that's it.

The slowest part of the process, is you have to enter a voter specific code to begin, which took me longer to do than anything, because each digit had to be selected and entered,one at a time, to enter the code.

I would estimate I could have done the whole process just as fast with a sharpie pen.....and my biggest concern is lack of paper that can be verified.

I can certainly imagine close elections being subject to serious criticism without a paper back-up system to certify the vote. We don't need any of that FL "chad" kind of election mess, in the future, and given the tendency for every Tom, Dick, and Harry to challenge the results, these days....there is a real danger of going away from paper that can be re-tabulated.

Some things are best done traditionally. Fortunately, only two machines were electronic, 6-7 were paper.

It's a beautiful image, though: voices of the innocent little children reciting the pledge of allegence, I can imagine it too and get sentimental about it.

One of the most stirring patriotic moments for me, one that I will rmember as long as I live was on 11 September 2001 just after the dastardly terrorist attack, when several Congressmen gathered on the steps in front of their building and sang God Bless America. I still get misty and choked up even just thinking about it.

I guess we all of us of every generation have those moments when we are struck by the power of the moment. For my mom and dad, it was the President's speech in 1941 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

What a wonderful land we live in! Cheryl

I wondered what they did for people who could not read, write etc. I had an uncle who could not read. I did not know that until I was grown. I just always thought it was a "sweet" thing that my aunt read the paper to him each evening. This was before we had TV in the Rio Grande valley, probably 1949 ish.
Moments that stay with me are:
Pres. Kennedy's death
Pres. Johnson's 1986 announcement that he would not run again (certainly not as important as the others, but I remember being dumbfounded when I heard his speech on the car radio)
Challenger explosion
January 16, 1991---the day the first gulf war started, because my baby was in one of those planes
Columbia explosion--Rick Husband was my best friend's nephew
9-11-2001

And what a privilege it is to be able to recite the Pledge of Allegiance without fear. It IS a wonderful country we live in (even with all the faults we point out daily), and I am so grateful to be among it's citizens. I thank the men and women who are giving so sacrificially so that I can post this message in the privacy of my home. God bless them!!!!!!

With the Veterans' Day holiday coming up, and tomorrow being the birthday of the US Marine Corps, I just had to chime in.

DW went out and got a Veterans' Day card to send to one of our dearest family members who is in the Army, his 2nd tour in Iraq. She told me about it and my first reaction (unspoken) was, "a CARD?! Do they have cards for Substitute Teachers' Day now, too?!" Then I saw the card. It was simple, thoughtful, and I thought, "appropriate." She picks good ones!

Then DW wrote a little note in it, and asked me to add something. "Love, Rap" was what I really wanted him to read. But before that, I wrote:

"I hope that no matter how history is re-written and re-comprehended as is inevitable, your courage, dedication, selfless service, and specific good works as a soldier are nevertheless remembered forever to the full and incomparably high honor that you deserve!"

Semper Fi, HOO-AH!, Anchors Aweigh and Dance the Skies, troops!

There is no glory in service. It is simply a necessity to maintain the world we choose to live in. It is the price to be paid, to maintain a free society.....or, as free as is practicable, I suppose.

Veteran's day is a remembrance of those who have served when needed, and those who have fallen in that service. It is a remembrance of what was lost, so that we might continue to live in the manner chosen.

It is not a time for cheering the military. It is a time to thank the military for being there, when they are needed, and to be grateful for the sacrifices made by the few for the many.

Personally, I am saddened by the need to protect ourselves from our own kind. Veteran's Day, reminds me of the many frailities of the human animal, and the weaknesses, that lead to violence and conflict, whenever 2 human beings occupy the same space.

No.....cheering is not the thing to do......the thing to do, is to reflect on treating others, as we would like to be treated, and to vow to overcome our inherent shortcomings.

Interesting thoughts, Rick. You've given me something to ponder today. I'm thinking I agree with you.

The other day on Oprah she had a young woman on that won her essay contest. I actually don't remember what the question the young people were supposed to answer, but the woman that won the contest was a surviver of the Rwandan holocost. The played a tape of her reading her essay to a group of holocost survivors. In the speech, she said, "History doesn't repeat itself, people repeat history." I thought that was very insightful. I don't know if it has anything to do with my original topic, but what you said in your last post, Rick, reminded me of that speech.

Sally

Or, put another way......people have a way of doing the unthinkable, repetitively. That is, unfortunately, very true.

I am reminded every time I turn on the news, that man learns very little about life, from the past. He continues to do the same stupid things, over and over, in the face of knowing how stupid it is, in the first place.

The amusing thing is....humans think animals are stupid!

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts,
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times."

"No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas Gram always remembers.
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of Nam,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother,
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
"For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

I am blubbering all over the place.

Several years ago I was working on genealogy. A person sent me a copy of a deposition, written by my 5th great grandfather, applying for his revolutionary war pension. That was so thrilling to see and read.
I also have copies of discharge papers from my 3rd ggf from the war of 1812.
Sure makes me proud to be an American.

Stitches, I just received that poem yesterday from a fellow brug buddy in Iowa. Thanks for posting it so MANY others may see. This is truly why our country is so great, I hope we can keep it this way. Certainly the brave men and women who defend us are doing more than their part.
Yes, Kathy - it is an honor to be an American!!!!

The country isn't as important as having caring and compassion for others, and their well being. Doesn't matter what country you live in.....the process is the same.

You will find that all nations have similar feelings about their culture, and way of life, even those we might not care for so much, ourselves.

The problem with the Marine story, is that it emphasizes that someone else is doing for us, what we must do for ourselves. It is that aspect of being American.....doing for ourselves....as well as for others.....that has lost its way. A Marine cannot replace the loss of personal responsibility, or decency, or ethical behavior. That is the responsibility of every American.....and that is what needs to be regained, to restore this country.

It is not "other people's" responsibility, or sacrifice, it is our own, individually. Right now....we are coming up short....and I hope that the process will reverse itself, and we can once again, become a people that abides by law, rather than considering laws something to be broken.....that abides by respect for the property of others, rather than destroying the property of others.....that obeys the laws for the well being and safety of all......just for starters.

Flag waving is an emotional activity......personal responsibility and behavior is a way of life.

Back to the thread topic for a few minutes.

It would have been delightful to hear little kids reciting en masse, in real time, the Pledge of Allegiance while I voted. With, or even without, the "one nation [under G_d], indivisible" part.

I would have enjoyed voting while hearing the Pledge - despite the easy, impossible-to-lose argument that little kids doing a pledge of any kind is really just an emotional activity, devised by marginally cunning elders striving to stroke themselves while evading personal responsibility. You know, like those "well-blow-ourselves-up-for-holy-martyrdom-and-kill-all-the-infidels" pledges we know kids are reciting in many madrasahs these days. Oops! IÂm digressing again...

From now on, in all future elections, I want my personal copy of a paper receipt from my electronically cast ballot, printed from the machine I use. In addition, I want to see a duplicate copy of my ballot come out of the same machine, that I can check and match to my personal copy, and then be able personally to hand that duplicate to the poll administrators as I leave the polling place.

I also want the names of all the people on duty at the polling place at the time I voted, printed on my receipt. Quid pro quo: they all have my name; I deserve to have all theirs. I could loiter on my own until the place closes, and spot each of them as they leave, plus note the license plates and other details of the vehicles they depart in, then follow up with some detective work to determine identities. Come recount time, I'm gonna want to re-connect with those folks.

But IÂd rather not have to loiter and do all that "vigilantism." IÂd prefer to just vote, and see the poll workers names on my receipt.

An "income tax" on campaign contributions, to pay costs of elections, would be nice.

But, perhaps itÂs unreasonable to expect so much personal responsibility to be taken...

I think I remember seeing name tags on the poll workers when I went to vote. I still vote on a paper ballot. I've never even thought about asking for a copy. I don't know how they'd produce a copy, unless they had a photocopier on site. More expense for us tax payers. Oh, and they stamp my registration card showing I've voted. Maybe that would be like a receipt.

Sally